Aston Villa

Aston Villa could sign their next Abraham in PL star who “causes panic”

Published

4 weeks ago

June 7, 2024

Aston Villa know that navigating the trials and tribulations of PSR will sit at the heart of Unai Emery’s summer transfer plans, with limitations forthcoming despite incredibly qualifying for the Champions League this year.

Emery has built a brilliant team steeped in sharp tactical understanding, with a distinctive footprint, but players such as Diego Carlos – who is on £100k-per-week – and the homegrown Jacob Ramsey have been linked with moves away to stay on the right side of the line.

But Monchi will be confident that such obstacles can indeed be moved past, thus using the finances stemming from clinching a place among Europe’s elite to fund intelligently placed bids.

Villa lining up Premier League star

Earlier this week, the all-knowing David Ornstein revealed that Aston Villa had entered preliminary negotiations with Chelsea for the signing of Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher, who is expected to leave Stamford Bridge this summer.

The England international is about to enter the final year of his contract with Chelsea and has been turned toward the door as Todd Boehly and Co look to ease concerns relating to PSR and fund their anticipated spending spree.

Now, according to Football Insider, Tottenham Hotspur are preparing an official bid as they look to capture their long-term target. Villa, for their part, are still firmly in the race and may hope to entice Gallagher with Champions League football – something that neither Chelsea nor Spurs can offer.

Chelsea want a ballpark figure of £50m for the 25-year-old and are said to be ‘likely to sell’ before 30 June, according to Football Insider – would, or indeed could, Villa make such an offer?

Conor Gallagher’s season in numbers

Many Chelsea supporters were rocked by Mauricio Pochettino’s mutually agreed departure last month – not least because the Argentinian manager appeared to have stabilised the club after several years of upheaval and tumult.

Gallagher, more so than most, will have felt the weight of Pochettino’s leave, with the boss having hailed him as “priceless” for his unique and high-output style – journalist Tom Barclay also previously praising the way “he creates space for other players” and “causes panic amongst other defences” which “can lead to lots of chances.”

But there’s little question that the Three Lions star is going to be sold this summer despite his important role in the Blues team – but Villa seem happy to oblige and offer him a fresh start.

According to Football Transfers, Villan stalwarts John McGinn and Boubacar Kamara are both stylistically similar players to the 5 foot 10 ace, and when comparing their Premier League campaigns it becomes clear how seamlessly Gallagher could slot into Emery’s on-field structure.

Premier League 23/24: Gallagher vs McGinn vs Kamara
Stat	Conor Gallagher	John McGinn	Boubacar Kamara
Matches played	37	35	20
Matches started	37	35	20
Goals	5	6	0
Assists	7	4	1
Pass completion	92%	83%	89%
Touches per game	70.4	49.1	63.2
Key passes per game	1.4	1.3	1.0
Ball recoveries per game	6.0	4.6	4.9
Tackles per game	2.3	1.7	2.2
Dribbles per game	1.0 (68%)	1.5 (67%)	0.7 (54%)
Duels won per game	5.7 (50%)	5.5 (50%)	5.3 (49%)
All stats via Sofascore

Kamara was unfortunately struck down by an ACL injury back in February that will see him remain sidelined until the later months of 2024 but he still started every match he played in this term, as did his partner, McGinn, and so too did Gallagher over in the capital.

But Gallagher’s superiority across almost every metric denotes his quality and how impressive he could prove to be at Villa Park, confident across a range of different midfield roles and meshing the varying facets together slickly.

The Athletic’s Liam Twomey has praised the “balance and chemistry” that Gallagher instilled in Pochettino’s Chelsea team and it’s certainly something that could be welcomed with outstretched arms by Emery, who has successfully found a state of control at his current outfit but could consolidate it with this signing.

As per FBref, the £50k-per-week talent ranks among the top 13% of midfielders across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for pass completion and assists and the top 17% for goals scored per 90, showcasing his aptitude in advanced sequences, highlighting his technical, ball-playing quality.

Should Emery succeed in securing Gallagher’s signature, he could even hand Aston Villa their next version of Tammy Abraham, repeating a past trick.

Why Gallagher could be Tammy Abraham 2.0

As chance would have it, Aston Villa are rumoured to be considering a move for Abraham at present, with Italian outlet TuttoMercatoWeb revealing that the AS Roma striker could be sold this summer as the Serie A side scramble to avoid PSR breaches (sigh).

West Ham United are also challenging for his signature, but Villa will be confident that they can land the former loan star who scored 26 goals for the club during the 2018/19 campaign, supercharging the club’s promotion back to the Premier League.

While Villa sought to sign the Englishman for £25m after returning to the Premier League, it wasn’t to be and he enjoyed several seasons with Chelsea – notably winning the Champions League – before transferring to Roma for £34m in August 2021.

Having once made good use of a Cobham graduate, Emery could indeed avenge the failure to get Abraham signed permanently by landing Gallagher, who could transform the engine room with his multi-functioning style.

Abraham and Gallagher might not be players of similar quality or indeed positional value but the former played a huge role in a significant part of this wonderful club’s journey, and now so too could his former teammate, in advanced circumstances.

Overall, Gallagher would be a fantastic signing for a Villa side that has showcased its collective quality under Emery’s management but must now sign astutely to cement this newfound position of power, both domestically and on the continent.

Having tasted the benefits of plucking from Chelsea’s talent pool in the past, now is the time to strike and offer one of Cobham’s finest a place in a fast-improving project, where he can feel both valued and comfortable as the heart and soul.

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